Tiltable and quick detachable steering wheel



W. H.- APPLEBY TIL-TABLE AND QUICK DETACHABLE STEERING WHEEL Feb. 13,1923.

- Filed Jan. 10, 1920) l atented Fete. 13, 1923.

ste rs WILLIAM H. .APPI-IEBYZ OF SANDWICH, ONTARIO, CANAQDLAI TILTABLE AND QUICK nnrecnnnnns rnnnme WHEE Application filed January 10, 1920 Serial No. 350,684.

'1 '0 all whomz't may concern:

Be it known that 1. WILLIA l-l. A1 rnnBY, a subject or" the King: or". Greet Britain residing atSandwich, in the county o't Essex ?rovince oi? Ontario, Canada, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Tilt-able and .Quiclr Detachable titeering l /heels, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the vtrom being steered in the usual manner.

tin-then aims to PlOVlClB' My invention 0. steering column equipment which will not intertere with the usual quadrants andlevers or throttles associated therewith, and the steering); column equipment is adapted for holding" the tiltable and quick detachable steering wheel so that it may be positively held in an operative or driving relation relative to the steering column equipment, or

the wheel tilted so us to provide clearance for movements about the steering column, or

the wheel completely removed. Provision is made for locking the steering wheel either in an active position relative to the steering column equipment or in a tilted position, so that while the wheel may be easily detached under ordinary eirci'unstances, yet it cannot be stolen when the wheel is left in an active or inactive position.

My invention further aims to provide a durable and neat appearing steering wheel of a novel construction and this construction will be hereinafter considered and then claimed.

Reference will now be had to the drawings, wherein- Figure 1 is atop plan of the steering wheel showing it turned a quarter of a revolution in e clock-wise direction from the normal straight ahead position usually occupied by the wheel;

2 is a cross sectional view or the steering wheel; I

Fig. 3 is a bottom plan of the same on a smaller scale than that shown in 1, and

groove 11' eomn'uin-icatinp' 14 provides clearance rant associated With a steer ng column as- Figs/ft and 5 are detail sectional views of the steeringwheel illustrating the hinge or pivotal. connection thereof. I

The steering column, equipment of my eerinp; wheel comprises a hub 1 adapted butt of an automobile steerln e column asbe hired on the upper end oil: the steering sombly, and the huh-mavbefixed so that.

it cannot be convenientlyremoved llormed itegral with the hubv 11s an 3'] shaped frame comprising gme mbers 2 and 3,, the

former being sector shaped with a segment and the latter triangular shapedor-provided with chord 5. The members 2 and 3 are in opposed relation and are formed with flanges or abutments 6: i

- T he member 2 has its segment 4 provided with a i'enrwardly extending offset armor lug 7 having a right angular pin or pintle 8 and an aperture 9. l i

il -he chord 5 of the member 3hds a central socl let 110 with an. inclined or beveled therewith, the purpose oi? which'will hereinafter appear.

:1. tiltable and quick detachable part of thestee mgr wheel comprises a rim12 supported bvthe arms 13 of a substantially C shaped spider flange l5 and spider inlay be interlocked or positioned over the members 2 and 3 to estab'lisl l rotati ve continuity between said members and the spider 14:. The'open side of the spider for the throttle quadsembly and when the'steering; wheel is inan active position the cpiadrant completes or fills in the configuration of the spider 14:, imparting an appearance as though the. spider formed part of the quadrant. The open side of the spider 14- also permits of the steering wheel being tilted to an inactive position or completely removed relative to the members 2 and 3 ,and "for this purpose the spider has a segment portion thereof provided with .a rearwardly extending enl t which has a depending ubutments 1 G that the,

larp'ement l'fprovided with an opening; 18

to receive the pin 8. By a sidewise movement of the steering wheel, the enlargement 17 can be slipped'on to the pin 8 and said enlargement is cut away, is at 19, and apertured, as at 20, so as to provide an aper tured ear 21 in parallelism with the arm or.

lug '7 of the member When the steering wheel 1s swung to a tilted or inactive position the aperture 20 or the ear 921 is adapted to register with the aperture 9 of the arm or lug 7 and permit of the shackle22 of a lock 23 being employed for locking the steering wheel relative to the steering column. l/Vith the lock 28 in position, it is impossible for the steering wheel to be stolen or swung to an active position, and with the steering wheel swung to the rear side of the steering column it is practically impossible to use the steering wheel for steering purposes.

The enlargement 17 of: the spider 14 also provides a stop shoulder 24 to limit. the tilting movement of the steering wheel to an inactive position, thus defining the tilted position of the steering wheel so that the apertures 9 and 20 will register to receive the lock shackle 22.

At the front side of the spider 141- is barrel 25 provided with a spring pressed detent 26 having a handle or knob 27, The detent 26 is adapted to engage in the socket 10 when the steering wheel is swung downwardly into engagement with the members 2 and 3 to assume an active position and as the detent encounters the groove 11, said detent is forced to a retracted position until it can enter the socket l0 and lock the spider 14 relative to the member The knob 27 is in proximity to the front. of the wheel rim 12 and can be easily gripped when it is desired to retract the detent 2i) and elevate the steering wheel.

I am aware that steering wheels have been connected to steering columns by attaching means designed for constantly retaining the steering wheel at the column, but such attaching means does not permit of ready and quick detachment of the wheel for my purillustrated a preferred embodiment of my iirvention it is to be understood that the structural elements are susceptible to such variations and modifications as fall within the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is 1. The combination 01 a steering frame,

a quick detachable steeringwheel carried thereby, and an ear and pin connection between said frame and wheel permitting of said wheel being tilted and when so tilted laterally removed from the pin.

2. The combination set forth in claim 1, wherein the steering frame has a lug sup porting the pin and said lug adapted to register with the ear of said wheel and permit of said ear and lug receiving the shackle of a lock.

3. The combination of a, steering hub havingmembersadapted to provide clearance for the quadrant of a steering column, and a steering wheel having a spider adapted to establish driving relation with the members of said huln said Wheel spider havan open side providing clearance for the quadrant of the steering column so that the quadrant may complete the appearance of the spider.

In testimony whereof l: affix my signsture in the presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM H. APPLEBY. Witnesses KARL H. BUTLER, ANNA M. Donn. 

